On 10/21/21 17:25, Luboš Luňák wrote:
On Thursday 21 of October 2021, Hossein Nourikhah wrote:
Since C++11, range based loops are available for iterating over a known
range of values. For example, when there is a need to process elements
of a container, range based loops are usually a good choice. They are
easy to write, read and understand.
The simplest form is as below:
for(auto variable : range)
statement;
I generally dislike the (ab)use of 'auto' to save a little typing at the
expense of readibility. Code is read much more often than written, and it's
also quite often read e.g. in gerrit where there's nothing to easily tell
what 'auto' is, so generally code should be aimed at being easy to read, not
necessarily to write. It's not black or white of course, but I disagree with
something that generically advises to use 'auto'.
Range based loops can simplify the code, but there are limitations for
them. For example, if there is a need not to iterate over certain
values, std::ranges::views::drop (C++20) should be used, so they are not
suitable for replacing every normal for loop.
If the instructions are aimed at people who need spelling out how to use
ranged for loops, then it needs to stress more that it is basically usable
only for sequential iterating over elements of a container that does not
change. Otherwise we risk that newbies will break things by rewriting even
non-trivial loops.
Maybe cut the complete easy hack description down to just "Use range
based for loops ...where applicable, across the source code". Those
easy hacks are meant for people to start getting involved in LO
development, not to teach people about C++ in general.
